The trees were festooned with ripe apples

[alpacinou]

Hello

I want to suggest that in a garden, the trees are full of fruits on them. Can I use "festoon" here?

The garden was teeming with apple trees festooned with ripe red apples.

If not, what can I use?

 

[emsr2d2]

I would just about accept "teeming" but "festooned" doesn't work. That suggests that someone deliberately hung the apples on the tree, rather than that they grew there naturally. I might say the trees were heavy with, or laden with, ripe red apples.

 

[alpacinou]

I would just about accept "teeming" but "festooned" doesn't work. That suggests that someone deliberately hung the apples on the tree, rather than that they grew there naturally. I might say the trees were heavy with, or laden with, ripe red apples.

Okay, thanks. So, if you say teeming is barely acceptable, it means there are better choices. What are they?

 

[emsr2d2]

To be honest, I'd just go with "full of".

 

[GoesStation]

"Teeming" and "festooned" work equally well for me. The reader knows that "festooned" isn't meant literally and that the trees aren't milling around in a crowd.

However, the sentence's style is excessively flowery. I wouldn't recommend using it. Can you write something plainer?

 

[alpacinou]

"Teeming" and "festooned" work equally well for me. The reader knows that "festooned" isn't meant literally and that the trees aren't milling around in a crowd.

However, the sentence's style is excessively flowery. I wouldn't recommend using it. Can you write something plainer?

Actually, I can write plainer. I'm practicing writing in a flowery manner.

 

[GoesStation]

Actually, I can write [STRIKE]plainer[/STRIKE] more plainly. I'm practicing writing in a flowery manner.

I wish I could explain why the comparative doesn't work there. Sorry. :-(

 

[emsr2d2]

The comparative doesn't work because it would have to be "plainlyer". You can't add "-er" to an adverb to make a comparative. You have to use "more + adverb". "Plainer" isn't the comparative of "plainly"; it's the comparative of "plain".

He ran quickly > He ran more quickly (not "quicklyer")
She said it clearly > She said it more clearly (not "clearlyer")

 

[alpacinou]

To be honest, I'd just go with "full of".

What about brimming with?

The garden was brimming with apple trees laden with red ripe apples.

 

[GoesStation]

What about brimming with?

The garden was brimming with apple trees laden with red ripe apples.

That's best used if the garden is in a hollow (a lowlying area).

 

[alpacinou]

That's best used if the garden is in a hollow (a lowlying area).

Sorry, I don't understand. You mean if the garden is near a mountain, for example, "brim" can't be used?

 

[emsr2d2]

No, it doesn't have to be near a mountain. I think GS meant that for the garden to have a brim, it would have to be in a kind of bowl (a hollow).

 

[alpacinou]

No, it doesn't have to be near a mountain. I think GS meant that for the garden to have a brim, it would have to be in a kind of bowl (a hollow).

Thanks. I get it now. So, I think "teeming with" is a better choice than "brimming with".
I heard this sentence from a native speaker in a documentary. I think it was David Attenborough:

This is a pristine wilderness brimming with wildlife.

 

[GoesStation]

I heard this sentence from a native speaker in a documentary. I think it was David Attenborough:

This is a pristine wilderness brimming with wildlife.

It's not terrible, and "brimming" is often used figuratively. Still, I prefer a different word.